Hand, ranked No. 5 in the GameTimeCT.com state poll dominated Hillhouse 43-6 at Bowen Field in the season opener for both Southern Connecticut Conference Tier 2 teams.

“Our job was to come in, execute, not make a lot of mistakes and see what we can do,” Hand coach Dave Mastroianni said. “Our kids validated themselves for all the work they did in the offseason.”

The Tigers mixed up their offense perfectly in the opening half, scoring on its first four possessions. Phoenix Billings connected with Chris Bartosic for 28 and 48 yards sandwiching a 6-yard run by Colin McCabe.

“We came out hot and we wanted it more,” McCabe said. “We wanted to make a statement in the first game of the season.”

McCabe (6 carries for 49 yards) added a pair of touchdowns (3 and 4 yards) in the second quarter to make it three touchdowns in his starting debut in the backfield for Hand. He also sacked Hillhouse quarterback Sahim Hasan in the end zone in the second quarter for a safety as it was 37-0 at the half.

“He’s new to the mix,” Mastroianni said. “He works his behind off in the weight room and it shows. This is the first year he’s played running back for us.”

Hillhouse struggled on both sides of the ball in the first half. The Academics never reached the Hand side of the field and had trouble on the lines.

“We got outmuscled and didn’t execute,” Hillhouse coach Reggie Lytle said. “We have a lot of young guys playing high school football for the first time.”

Hand tacked on another touchdown on a Jesse Lutz one-yard run in the third quarter.

Hillhouse finally got on the board with 2:51 to play in the game when Shamen Brown scooted into the end zone from two yards out.

The entire second half was played under running time by the CIAC 35-point rule.

“We have to go back and work harder,” Lytle said. “That’s probably the best team we’ll play all year. We didn’t block well and hold our blocks up front.”

Quotable: Hand coach Dave Mastroianni: “Whenever you come down to Hillhouse and the game gets to what it was it’s a shocker. It’s a credit to our guys and their execution. We didn’t make a lot of mistakes tonight.”

Star of the Game: Colin McCabe, Hand. Rushed for three touchdowns (6, 4 and 3 yards in the first half and tackled Hillhouse quarterback Sahim Hasan in the end zone for a safety in the second quarter.

About Dave Phillips

Old Comments

Now this is interesting. In the Hillhouse preview article it was said that the Hillhouse Coach hadn’t seen Hasan. In other posts it was said that he had to sit out 5 games because he transferred. Now, this article says he was the quarterback in the first game of the season. Personally, I’m happy he’s playing if this article is correct.

Wow……. talk about a beat down. Hand’s O & D lines completely dominated Hillhouse. They are even better then last year and they are playing without there best linebacker. Lookout Class L they are as good as advertised.

When you are handed marshmallows, you put them on a skewer and roast them–that is Hand’s schedule–put them up against the teams they SHOULD be playing–Chesire, Prep, Shelton, West Haven, North Haven–and see if there is running clock for the entire second half

Jury is out on what Hillhouse will be this year – but one thing’s for certain – Hand has all the pieces for a potential repeat. Maybe West Haven or Cheshire knocks them off, if not, they are 10-0 and a #1 seed in class L

Funny stuff–you mean the New Fairfield that was 1-9 last season and lost last week 35-0 to Newtown. CT football will have to create a new records category in honor of Hand–most running clock victories in a season. NF is just another Guilford

I agree with Hand Fan–the 2019 class can compete with anyone–but if they played the Tier 1 power schedule that they should play, they would not win all of their games. They would be tested and perhaps after facing the best and biggest teams would have their share of nicks and bruises. They would have to go deeper into their bench and the win loss record would be different. But we will never know because other than Cheshire and West Haven, Hand has weak opponents most of the season. Oh by the way–by the time Hand played North Haven last season, NH was spent from playing in the big leagues. Hand was fresh from having played another weak schedule

Educate yourself. From 2012-2015 Hand played the hardest schedule in the state. No ones schedule even game close and they had wining seasons every year and a state title. Down year was in 2014 when they went 5-6 and still beat LL champ Xavier. Unfortunately they went an unusual 2-8 in 2016 and with their rapid decline in enrollment they got bumped down. Don’t knock the schedule if you don’t know the past. Go Tigers!

SCC RUNS THE STATE–thank you for making my point–Hand had one “unusual” year and they were bumped. Not the kids fault–but you can never compare them to the Hand teams of 2012-2015 because we will never know how this group would have fared against the real competition of the Tier I SCC. For the years you mention 12-15, Hand was 33-13. 10 of those 13 losses were against SCC Tier 1 teams. The other three losses were against Fairfield teams. None of the losses were against the weaker opponents they have on this years schedule.

All of the SCC Tier 1 teams had similar schedules from 2012-2015 so stop your crying that Hand’s was the most difficult. There’s one thing everyone in the state agrees on and that is that Hand’s schedule last year and this year is embarrassingly uncompetitive. Walk the walk and then feel free to talk the talk but as for now Hand should get zero respect because it’s nearly impossible to tell if their teams and if their players are any good because judging from the Hillhouse game it looks like 8th graders are playing the 4th graders on the playground. All the power to Hand if it looked like that when they played teams like SCC Tier one teams play but they don’t.